P/JX 235103, Able Seaman, Edward George Kitchener PERRY
Aged 27


H.M.S. President III, (SS Rothley) Royal Navy
Killed in Action on Monday 19th October 1942



Born on 28th August 1915 [Newmarket 3b:798], the son of Albert Edward and Anna PERRY (née GOULT) of Gothic Cottages, All Saints Road, Newmarket.

In the 1939 register Edward was a milk roundsman, at 1 Gothic Cottages, All Saints Road, Newmarket with his father Albert E [25-2-1889] stableman; mother Anna [21-11-1894 and brother Raymond [1-12-1920] a gardener. No closed records.

Edward's Uncle, Joseph Perry, is also on the War Memorial, died of his wounds in WW1 see here




It is not known exactly what trade rank Edward had, he was presumably the gunner who was lost. HMS "President III" was the ship-name given to the shore establishment located at Dedworth Manor and which was responsible for the pay, accounts and administration of the D.E.M.S. (Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships) personnel, worldwide, and was directly responsible to D.N.A. (The Director of Navy Accounts) at Admiralty. Edward was serving on steamship Rothley of Whalton Shipping. ROTHLEY (2) 1936-1942. Lloyds Official Number 161598. Tonnage; 4996 tons gross.
October 19, 1942; Rothley was bound from Durban on passage to Trinidad and New York. Sailing in ballast with no cargo, the vessel carried a crew of 42, including gunners. In position 13.34N 54.34W, 300 miles east of Barbados the Rothley was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U332 under the command of Kapitanleutnant Liebe, with the loss of one crew member and one gunner. The Master and 39 crew were saved. The U-Boat responsible for the sinking of the Rothley was herself destroyed on May 2 1943 after being depth-charged off the Scilly Isles by a RAAF aircraft of No 461 Sqn.





No known grave - Edward is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial Ref- panel 64 column 3
and on the family grave in Newmarket cemetery (NMKT 1492).

click here to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for full cemetery/memorial details


BACK